Lawmakers in hunt for consultant for mental health study

A new legislative panel charged with evaluating the state’s public and private mental health services met Monday morning to discuss hiring a consultant to complete a report on the needs of the system.

State House News Service

A new legislative panel charged with evaluating the state’s public and private mental health services met Monday morning to discuss hiring a consultant to complete a report on the needs of the system.

The Legislature’s Mental Health Advisory Committee plans to hire an independent consultant who will conduct a study and offer recommendations on inpatient mental health delivery provided by the Department of Mental Health, a need-based estimate of the number of continuing care mental health beds for the state and the anticipated regional impact of a reduction in available beds at Taunton State Hospital.
“This is going to be a difficult undertaking, but so necessary if we’re really going to do the best thing for the people with mental illness,” said committee co-chair Rep. Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset). Senate co-chair Sen. John Kennan (D-Quincy) laid out the committee’s goals and the timeframe for hiring the consultant.

According to the hearing’s agenda, candidates for the consultant position must demonstrate knowledge of public and private mental health delivery systems in Massachusetts and throughout the U.S. and experience in examining delivery systems. A hiring decision will be made by the committee after a roughly two-week period allowed for collecting responses and quotes.